Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Note 2 - Long-term Debt

v3.19.3.a.u2
Note 2 - Long-term Debt
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Notes to Financial Statements  
Long-term Debt [Text Block]
2.
Long-Term Debt
 
The components of our long-term debt are presented in the following tables (in thousands):
 
   
December 31,
 
   
2019
   
2018
 
Credit Agreement borrowings
  $
105,000
    $
21,000
 
                 
Senior Second Lien Notes:
               
Principal
   
625,000
     
625,000
 
Unamortized debt issuance costs
   
(10,467
)    
(12,465
)
Total Senior Second Lien Notes
   
614,533
     
612,535
 
                 
Total long-term debt
  $
719,533
    $
633,535
 
 
Aggregate annual maturities of amounts recorded for long-term debt as of
December 
31,
2019
 are as follows (in millions):  
2020–$0.0;
2021–$0.0;
2022–$105.0;
2023
-
$625.0.
  See below for a discussion of our debt instruments.
 
9.75%
Senior Second Lien Notes Due
2023
 
On
October 18, 2018,
we entered into a series of transactions to effect a refinancing of substantially all of our outstanding indebtedness. At that time, we issued
$625.0
million of
9.75%
Senior Second Lien Notes due
2023
(the “Senior Second Lien Notes”), which were issued at par with an interest rate of
9.75%
per annum that matures on
November 1, 2023,
and are governed under the terms of the Indenture of the Senior Second Lien Notes (the “Indenture”) dated as of
October 18, 2018,
entered into by and among the Company, the Guarantors, and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as trustee (the “Trustee”).  The estimated annual effective interest rate on the Senior Second Lien Notes was
10.3%,
which includes debt issuance costs.  Interest on the Senior Second Lien Notes is payable in arrears on
May 1
and
November 1
of each year.
 
   Prior to
November 1, 2020,
we
may
redeem all or any portion of the Senior Second Lien Notes at a redemption price equal to
100%
of the principal amount of the outstanding Senior Second Lien Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date, plus the “Applicable Premium” (as defined in the Indenture).  In addition, prior to
November 1, 2020,
we
may,
at our option, on
one
or more occasions redeem up to
35%
of the aggregate original principal amount of the Senior Second Lien Notes in an amount
not
greater than the net cash proceeds from certain equity offerings at a redemption price of
109.750%
of the principal amount of the outstanding Senior Second Lien Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date.
 
On and after
November 1, 2020,
we
may
redeem the Senior Second Lien Notes, in whole or in part, at redemption prices (expressed as percentages of the principal amount thereof) equal to
104.875%
for the
12
-month period beginning
November 1, 2020,
102.438%
for the
12
-month period beginning
November 1, 2021,
and
100.000%
on
November 1, 2022
and thereafter, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date.  The Senior Second Lien Notes are guaranteed by W&T Energy VI and W & T Energy VII, LLC (together, the “Guarantor Subsidiaries”).  If we experience certain change of control events, we will be required to offer to repurchase the notes at
101.000%
of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the repurchase date.
 
Certain entities controlled by Tracy W. Krohn, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and President of the Company, and his family were invested in certain existing notes of the Company that were repurchased by the Company in connection with the Refinancing Transaction (defined below). The Krohn entities tendered their existing notes on the same terms as were made available to all other holders of the existing notes pursuant to the publicly disclosed Company offer to purchase any and all such notes and reinvested an amount approximately equal to the proceeds from such tenders by purchasing approximately
$8.0
million principal in Senior Second Lien Notes at the same price offered to other initial investors in the offering of such notes.  As part of the
2018
Refinancing Transaction, the Krohn entities also had their previously disclosed
$5.0
million investment in the Company’s Second Lien Term Loan (defined below) liquidated as the loan was repaid in full.
 
The Senior Second Lien Notes are secured by a
second
-priority lien on all of our assets that are secured under the Credit Agreement (defined below).  The Senior Second Lien Notes contain covenants that limit or prohibit our ability and the ability of certain of our subsidiaries to: (i) make investments; (ii) incur additional indebtedness or issue certain types of preferred stock; (iii) create certain liens; (iv) sell assets; (v) enter into agreements that restrict dividends or other payments from the Company’s restricted subsidiaries to the Company; (vi) consolidate, merge or transfer all or substantially all of the assets of the Company; (vii) engage in transactions with affiliates; (viii) pay dividends or make other distributions on capital stock or subordinated indebtedness; and (ix) create unrestricted subsidiaries that would
not
be restricted by the covenants of the Indenture.  These covenants are subject to exceptions and qualifications set forth in the Indenture.  In addition, most of the above described covenants will terminate if both S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global Inc., and Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. assign the Senior Second Lien Notes an investment grade rating and
no
default exists with respect to the Senior Second Lien Notes.
 
Credit Agreement
 
Concurrently with the issuance of the Senior Second Lien Notes, we renewed our credit facility by entering into the Sixth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”), dated as of
October 18, 2018,
among the Company, as borrower, the Guarantor Subsidiaries from time to time party thereto, Lenders from time to time party thereto and Toronto Dominion (Texas) LLC, as administrative agent with a maturity date of
October 18, 2022. 
The primary items of the Credit Agreement, as amended, are as follows, with certain terms defined under the Credit Agreement:
 
 
The initial borrowing base is
$250.0
million.
 
 
Letters of credit
may
be issued in amounts up to
$30.0
million, provided availability under the Credit Agreement exists.
 
 
The Leverage Ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, is limited to
3.00
to
1.00
for quarters ending
December 31, 2019
and thereafter.  In the event of a Material Acquisition, as defined in the Credit Agreement, the Leverage Ratio limit is
3.50
to
1.00
for the
two
quarters following a Material Acquisition.  The acquisition of the Mobile Bay Properties, as described in Note
5,
qualifies as a Material Acquisition under the Credit Agreement.
 
 
The Current Ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, must be maintained at greater than
1.00
to
1.00.
 
 
We are required to have deposit accounts only with banks under the Credit Agreement with certain exceptions.
 
 
To the extent there are borrowings, the Applicable Margins, as defined in the Credit Agreement, for Eurodollar Loans range from
2.50%
to
3.50%
per annum and the Applicable Margins for ABR loans range from
1.50%
to
2.50%
per annum.  The specific Applicable Margin rate is based on the Borrowing Base Utilization Percentage.
 
 
The commitment fee is
37.5
basis points if the Borrowing Base Utilization Percentage is below
50%
and
50
basis points if the Borrowing Base Utilization Percentage is
50%
or greater.
 
 
We were required to have derivative contracts for a minimum of
50%
of projected production for
18
months based on existing proved developed producing reserves and certain other criteria by
December 2, 2018
and have met this requirement.  We
may
enter into derivative contracts with counter parties within the Credit Agreement or with other counter parties meeting certain criteria described in the Credit Agreement.
 
Availability under the Credit Agreement is subject to semi-annual redeterminations of our borrowing base to occur on or before
May 15
and
November 14
each calendar year, and certain additional redeterminations that
may
be requested at the discretion of either the lenders or the Company.  The borrowing base is calculated by our lenders based on their evaluation of our proved reserves and their own internal criteria.  Any redetermination by our lenders to change our borrowing base will result in a similar change in the availability under the Credit Agreement.  The Credit Agreement’s security is collateralized by a
first
priority lien on substantially all of our oil and natural gas properties and certain personal property.
 
Borrowings outstanding under the Credit Agreement are reported in the table above.  As of
December 31, 2019 
and
2018,
we had
$5.8
million and
$9.6
million, respectively, outstanding in letters of credit under the Credit Agreement.  The estimated annual effective interest rate on borrowings, exclusive of debt issuance costs, commitment fees and other fees was
4.9%.
 
As of
December 31, 2019,
we were in compliance with all applicable covenants of the Credit Agreement and Senior Second Lien Notes.
 
For information about fair value measurements of our long-term debt, refer to Note
3.
 
Refinancing Transaction in
2018
 
On
October 18, 2018,
funds from the issuances of the Senior Second Lien Notes, borrowings under the Credit Agreement and cash on hand were used to repurchase and retire, repay or redeem all of the prior debt instruments, which are listed below. The issuance of the Senior Second Lien Notes, execution of the Credit Agreement and extinguishment of the prior debt instruments are collectively referred to as the “Refinancing Transaction”.  A net gain of
$47.1
million was recorded as a result of the Refinancing Transaction, comprised of the write off of carrying value adjustments of the prior debt instruments and partially offset by premiums paid.  The effect on both basic and diluted earnings per share for
2018
was
$0.33
per share, which assumes the gain would
not
affect our income tax expense for
2018.
 
Prior Debt Instruments
 
The following debt instruments were repurchased and retired, repaid or redeemed, including interest and applicable premiums as part of the Refinancing Transaction on
October 18, 2018:
 
 
11.00%
1.5
Lien Term Loan, (the
“1.5
Lien Term Loan”) due
November 15, 2019,
$75.0
million principal outstanding on
October 18, 2018.
 
 
9.00%
Term Loan, due
May 15, 2020,
$300.0
million principal outstanding on
October 18, 2018 (
the "Second Lien Term Loan").
 
 
9.00%/
10.75%
Senior Second Lien PIK Toggle Notes (the “Second Lien PIK Toggle Notes”), due
May 15, 2020,
$177.5
million principal outstanding on
October 18, 2018.
 
 
8.50%/
10.00%
Senior Third Lien PIK Toggle Notes (the “Third Lien PIK Toggle Notes”), due
June 15, 2021,
$160.9
million principal outstanding on
October 18, 2018.
 
 
8.500%
Senior Notes (the “Unsecured Senior Notes”), due
June 15, 2019,
$189.8
million principal outstanding on
October 18, 2018.
 
 
Exchange Transaction in
2016
 
On
September 7, 2016,
we consummated a transaction whereby we exchanged approximately
$710.2
million in aggregate principal amount, or
79%,
of our Unsecured Senior Notes for: (i)
$159.8
million in aggregate principal amount of Second Lien PIK Toggle Notes; (ii)
$142.0
million in aggregate principal amount of Third Lien PIK Toggle Notes; and (iii)
60.4
million shares of our common stock (collectively, the “Debt Exchange”).  At the same time on closing on the Debt Exchange, we closed on a
$75.0
million,
1.5
Lien Term Loan, with the then largest holder of our Unsecured Senior Notes (collectively with the Debt Exchange, the “Exchange Transaction”).  We accounted for the Exchange Transaction as a Troubled Debt Restructuring pursuant to the guidance under ASC
470
-
60.
  Under ASC
470
-
60,
the carrying value of the Second Lien PIK Toggle Notes, Third Lien PIK Toggle Notes and
1.5
Lien Term Loan (the
“2016
Debt”) was measured using all future undiscounted payments (principal and interest); therefore,
no
interest expense was recorded for the
2016
Debt in the Consolidated Statements of Operations from
September 7, 2016
to
October 18, 2018. 
Therefore, our reported interest expense was significantly less than the contractual interest payments for the period the
2016
Debt was outstanding.  Under ASC
470
-
60,
payments related to the
2016
Debt are reported in the financing section of the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
 
During the
second
quarter of
2017,
interest on the Second Lien PIK Toggle Notes and the Third Lien PIK Toggle Notes was paid in cash rather than in kind.  As a result of the cash interest payment, an
$8.2
million net reduction was recorded to long-term debt on the Consolidated Balance Sheet and the offset to
Gain on Debt Transactions
in the Consolidated Statement of Operations.  For
2017,
$0.4
million of additional expense was recorded to
Gain on Debt Transactions
for differences between actual and estimated transaction expenses.  The effect of these transactions on both basic and diluted earnings per share for
2017
was
$0.06
per share, which assumes the net gain would
not
affect our income tax benefit for that period.